2020 Final Visit

12th December 2020

Here are 4 pictures taken from the 4 corners of the plot, each one showing an aspect of the plot as it is.

The first picture was taken from the same spot as the very first picture. It looks a lot different to how we took over the plot back in September.

We are very proud of what we have achieved thus far. This has been tough work and with only one or two visits per week in the Autumn and start of Winter it has been a slog. Often the weather has not been conducive to digging and so we just had to take the opportunities when they arose.

Now we begin to consider what to do with the other ½ of the plot (we’ve dug kind of 3 out of 6 sections). Now imagination and creativity are needed and a little bit of thought about where we might put the compost bins etc. Hmmm, we will be needing some pallets for that…

First thoughts on pallets: we will need about 6 for the compost bins. Maybe 1 or 2 more later… These thoughts are a little like the IBM chairman saying that the UK will need about 6 computers for the whole country, that should be enough… Laughable now!

Now we rest.

Some excellent work. 

And then come back strong in 2021.

Sparks of Hope and Clouds of Smoke

6th December - The initial fire makes its appearance

As the digging continues, the first fire appears on the plot! 

At its base are the inverted bottles, atop of this the square concrete slab, and on top of this some bricks that were discovered during the digging process, allowing us to create a very rudimentary fire. This fire is made just from what we found on the plot and will be replaced with some better bricks etc. as we find them, or source them.

The weeds are very wet, the weather cold, damp and so any thoughts of clearing these weeds away by fire, gone with the wind… However, it is nice to have some warmth on a damp December day.

The very first addition to the plot apart from sweat and toil on the digging process and a sign of things to come! Paths defined and the amount remaining to dig getting smaller all the time...

25 Empty Wine Bottles

5th December 2020 - Saturday afternoon

Here are three pictures of different aspects of the plot as the initial rough digging continues. 

We are approaching the end of the pre-Christmas digging. The main aim is to get the basic layout defined with the digging, paths, growing areas, and enable the winter months to do their thing with the soil whilst we’re all enjoying Christmas.

 

You can see in the middle bottom of the second picture the upside wine bottles that are forming the base of the fire. These bottles were in my car boot and 25 or so of them form the foundation with a cement tile on top which we will then build an open fire with bricks so we can burn the piles of weeds forming.
 

At this point in time there are no plans for the rest of the plot… The focus is on this first dig, followed by a second dig and then we’ll take stock and decide what we will do afterwards. We definitely want to make compost bins, but where we will locate them nobody knows at this point! We also want a place to rest, as this is quite hard work. And some flowers, adds Desi, because that will make our rest very enjoyable At this stage we’re only doing a couple of hours, maybe three in each session and we do wish we had somewhere to sit comfortably and take a break.

Back Again at the Weekend

7th November 2020 

In these pictures you can clearly see progress as all 3 growing beds are becoming visible. The one in front of the greenhouse, the one to the right of that and then the most completed - the one in the middle of the plot.
 

Weed piles are becoming rather large and we have no way of disposing of them as yet (no fire). We are in the process of thinking about where we want the fire to be located… it’s going to be a small fire made of bricks stacked on top of each other a little like Chris' father used to have in his garden when Chris was growing up. Desi doesn't really know much about burning of weeds as her father never did that...

In the second picture stands a proud Desi! This has been a lot of work thus far, and the more we dig, the more we realise that there is still plenty left to do! Do we wish that we’d plumped for no dig? Not a chance of it! This is good exercise, in the fresh air and creating something that we will benefit from next year.
 

Many folk said that we would be disturbing the soil and causing problems for the worms... However, in our viewpoint, the soil needed aerating and the worms would be given plenty of lovely rotting vegetation to enjoy during the winter by digging in all the current vegetation. Time will tell, but we are expecting a bumper crop of worms come March / April 2021!

Midweek Sojourn

Wednesday, November 4th 2020


We are getting into the swing of things now- a midweek excursion to the plot!

We are starting to see how much work lies ahead! We are realising that more pace was required to meet the deadline of a 'first dig' of the main growing areas for next year, if we want winter to do its job.

In this pictures taken in the late afternoon we have almost defined the first path. You will see in the second picture that the pile of weeds was moved (not for the last time) to define the path further, and a second pile of weeds is already forming. These weeds are those extracted from the dig that were easy to remove and will require burning in our currently absent fire.

This is a tough old dig, as the weeds, including couch grass and brambles, it seems, have had a free reign for a while. These types of weeds will just come back year after year along with bindweed, buttercups and daisies, so best off to do the job thoroughly and then hopefully with one further dig in the spring we will be left with a growing space that is more manageable going forward!

7th November - little hills of weeds popping up everywhere.

The Digging Continues

 October 24th, 2020

 

The boundary trench is nearly completed, with the added obstacle of discovering the water pipe under the soil (not too deep) by the road.

Having navigated this, we turn our attention to the 3 vegetable plots that have kind of self identified themselves. Small piles have begun to emerge (weeds that could be easily uprooted and put to one side) and… the beginnings of grass (mainly weeds, the term grass is being used very loosely here) paths being established between the veggie plots.

The veggie plots will be approximately 4m x 4m and we are already guessing what we will be able to grow in each plot next year. Well the seeds will need planting early on for things that are hardy enough to survive a frost.

No intention of attempting to put anything in during 2020, all attention is being given to digging and creating the basics ready for next year!

You will notice the presence of a black bag lying on the ground, with our bags, gloves and coats whilst we’re working. This is what counts as a “rest area” during these early days. I tell you this because we go through a fair few iterations of “rest area” during the first year!